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The Hindu : y>Casa Deep Woods in Masinagudi is now a Mahindra Resort

Jungle charm Casa Deep Woods

Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India has recently added Casa Deep Woods, Masinagudi, to its chain of Zest resorts.

The new resort is a branded, leased property that is managed and operated by the company. Casa Deep Woods is set in the shadows of the Nilgiri Mountains and surrounded by the Mudumalai forest.

A stream flows through the property and you can explore the jungle from here. There are 20 cottages at Casa Deep Woods, each designed to leave you with the experience of having the jungle at your doorstep.

At the resort, one can avail of outdoor activities such as night trekking, jungle safari, country-style fishing, cycling, jungle walk, or even visit the elephant camp. For those who prefer the indoors, there are movie and champ shows, Art of Living courses and traditional board games.

For bookings call, 30277798 or, the resort at 0423 – 2826391.

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The Hindu : y>The surname was practically inevitable writes AYESHA MATTHAN. Now you find women who consciously move away from this patriarchal baggage

Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.REINFORCEMENT The father’s lineage is celebrated almost negating female familial history

She should be either known by her father’s or her husband’s name, post marriage.Right from filling forms and identity cards, she is identified either as somebody’s daughter or wife. Recently, Sanjay Dutt insisted that his sister,Priya Dutt’s decision to use her father’s surname was not in tradition.

The father’s lineage is celebrated and revered, stories told for generations to come, names remembered and roots traced only through his genes, almost negating female familial history. She is born with the premise that she can’t take the father’s line (not the mother’s) and honour forward.

As a Syrian Christian, Mary Roy won the right claiming her father’s property in Kerala in ’86. Lauretta Syiem, 26, who comes from the matrilineal tribe Khasi, says children retain their mother’s (sometimes) gender-neutral surname, the father can keep his surname and the youngest daughter inherits the property. She reveals: “But the Mait Shaphrang movement are a body of Khasi men who choose to keep their fathers’ surnames, and demand for the equitable distribution of property.”Name game

The phrase maiden name is controversial as it endorses the moral importance given to sexual history through marriage and family.

Hillary Clinton was known as Hillary Rodham, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mrs. Bill Clinton during different stages of her and her husband’s professional careers. Konkona SenSharma, who was given the option of choosing her surname, chose both her parents’ names. The Aishwarya Rai-Bachchans with their double-barrel surnames, fuse their birth names with their husband’s identity.

And what of those like Manyata Dutt, nee Sara Khan, nee Dilnawaz Shaikh who’ve completely given up their birth names and forged new identities for professional and marital reasons? Sanjay Leela Bhansali has used his mother’s first name,…More

The Hindu : y>Tourism Australia has a sophisticated campaign

NOVEL Inviting to potential travellers

Tourism Australia and the internationally renowned film-maker Baz Luhrmann and his team have created a new sophisticated destination campaign to make Australia the “must visit” destination for travellers around the world. The “Transformation Tourism campaign” has been created on the theme of the movie which has a strong resonance to marketing campaign that Tourism Australia follows. The campaign is an unusual one that is not the traditional slide-show of pretty pictures of places and people. It is cinematic in style, is based on a story with a beginning, middle and end, and is sophisticated and highly emotive.

The idea of the campaign stems from Baz’s film, which tells the story of Nicole Kidman’s character, Lady Sarah Ashley, who has lost her sense of self but who finds adventure, romance and her true self when she comes to Australia. The core storyline has been made into two short-film-like stories of contemporary people who are stressed and disconnected from their loved ones and their true selves, and who find their centre and their release in Australia.

The term ‘walkabout’ had been adopted in the campaign as a uniquely Australian way of describing what holidays should be – a time of release, joy, discovery and reconnection with our loved ones and our real selves. Walkabout also enabled Tourism Australia to bring the indigenous Australian culture into the heart of the story, with the young Aboriginal actor, Brandon Walters who features in the film “Australia”, inviting potential travellers to come ‘Walkabout’ in Australia.

In India, the campaign debuted with the in cinema advertising that coincided with the theatre release of the film, “Australia”. Further exposure in other media namely print and television will concur with the lead-up to the peak travel season between April and June. The campaign will run in all of Tourism Australia’s 22 major markets around…More

The Hindu : y>

Photo: K.R. DeepakCulinary eats Grab a pizza at the new Papa John outlet.

Papa John’s, a Pizza chain has opened a new outlet at Koramangala. An exciting inaugural offer at the Koramangala outlet, will allow patrons to dig into a medium original base garden special pizza for Rs. 125 and a medium original base chickenbarbecue pizza for Rs. 150 only.

Papa John’s makes its original crust pizza with fresh dough and claims to use freshly-cut vegetables at Papa John’s restaurants; and cheese made with 100 per cent mozzarella. The chain has over 3,225 branches across the planet. So head to the new outlet and indulge in some cheesy delights. The outlet is located at 421/A, Ground Floor, VI-Block, 80 Feet Road, Koramangala.

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The Hindu :

Irrfan Khan hosts India Celebrates, a series of shows commemorating the country

Photo: Sandeep SaxenaBack in time Irrfan Khan

Irrfan Khan has his Republic Day celebrations all planned out. “When journalists ask me what is my message for today, I tell them ‘India Celebrates’ is my message,” says the intense actor over the phone.

“India Celebrates” is a series of shows commemorating the spirit of India on Fox History and Entertainment channel. “I would be hosting the shows through the day,” elaborates Irrfan. “Television is still growing in India. We need diversity in the programming.”

Irrfan would be anchoring documentaries such as “Bollywood Mein Hindi”, “The British Empire In Colour: Tryst with Destiny”, “Indian Journeys: Shiva’s Matted Locks” and “City Of Djinns”, “Bollywood Bosses” and the iconic film, “Rang De Basanti.”

“When I say documentaries, it might sound boring. We do not have a culture of watching documentaries in India. Unfortunately they are associated with Films Division newsreels.”

Irrfan clarifies that these programmes are different. “The way these stories are told are very interesting. For instance ‘The British Empire in Colour’ uses rare, never-before-seen footage to describe the British Empire. It is the kind of programmes I would like my son to watch. My son is always disappointed as he cannot watch most of my work. This is something I have done for him.”

Irrfan says he would not like to work in fiction on the small screen, “Features are for the big screen. However, I would like to work on non-fiction on telly. The other day I was reading about a Sufi poet and came across this story of Noor Inayat, who worked as a spy for the United Kingdom during the Second World War. That was what drew me to the programme ‘Princess Spy’, which is part of another series I am doing called ‘Mera India’ which airs on Thursdays.”

The much-feted actor says the compilation…More

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Brunch

There will be a Republic Day brunch at Raj Pavilion and Dakshin at the ITC Windsor. There will be a discount of 30 per cent for all the Defence Personnel.

Venue: ITC Windsor

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The Hindu :

Tanvi Shah sings the much-acclaimed Jai Ho for Slumdog Millionaire

PHOTO: R. RAVINDRANFullthroated Tanvi Shah can sing soprano, tenor, bass and alto

Tanvi Shah had no idea she was driving towards a life-changing twist on her way to Rahman’s studio. With “Slumdog Millionaire” winning much acclaim at the Golden Globe and the Oscars, her phone hasn’t stopped ringing. She wentto Rahman’s studio to sing some backing vocals for a song she thought was meant for Subhash Ghai’s “Yuvraaj”.

“I went in and heard Sukhi’s (Sukhwinder) voice and I was in awe of the notes he hit. And Rahman said: ‘Go in and try something different. Think out of the box. Throw your voice out loud like no one’s around to listen.’ I couldn’t believe he wanted me to sing, and the challenge was that I had to match up to Sukhi.”Go wild

Tanvi also wrote the Spanish bits for the song, given her knack of adapting to the demands of songs that require foreign sounds. In the past five years of singing for Rahman, since she did backing vocals of “Fana” in “Yuva”, she had been to the studio for all kinds of singing.

“I love doing backing vocals for him because every time I go in, I come out learning something new.” Apart from “Jai Ho” she joined BlaaZe for “Gangsta Blues” for the film. “Rahman’s brief was simple. He said: ‘Go wild’.”

Having followed and worked with Rahman for the last five years, does she truly believe “Slumdog Millionaire” is his best work till date? “My favourites are ‘Rang De Basanti’ and ‘Bose — The Forgotten Hero’. These particular scores are good no doubt, but I’ve heard better from him. That’s because from an Indian audience point of view, we’ve heard so much. I don’t think Hollywood has heard his music. Recently, we worked on this movie called ‘Ada’. That movie, you must…More

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Art

There is an exhibition of paintings by eight artists from Chennai called Kinetics 2009.

Venue: Chitrakala Parishath

Date: On till January 31

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The Hindu :

Dr. Shobha S. Krishnan’s book on the HPV vaccine answers important questions about the disease

FRANK TALK Shobha S. Krishnan’s (left) book talks of a cancer of the young that devastates the family

Nine out of 10 people will want to pick up a book that has the words ‘Sex’, ‘Cancer’, ‘God’, ‘Politics’ and ‘Controversy’ on its front wrapper. But these aren’t terms of enticement forthis 230-page hardcover. Dr. Shobha S. Krishnan’s book is about the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and the questions surrounding it.

New York-based Dr. Shobha, board-certified in Obstetrics-Gynecology and Primary Care simply had to write it. “Having been educated in Chennai and the U.S., I’ve had the best of both worlds.” “The vaccine has been in use for the last two-and-a-half years (now in India) and I have the research tools to assess the response. I was already writing on South Asian women’s health issues. The controversy about the vaccine was a natural choice of subject.”Alarming statistics

The connection between the virus and Indian women’s health borders on the alarming. Nearly 75,000 women die annually of HPV-gifted cervical cancer. Lack of education, inhibitions and our hesitation to go for regular Pap tests push us into the high risk area. Dr. Shobha’s book brings us those “simple, essential things” that we don’t know and will never ask — prevention, symptoms and treatment.

“The HPV virus is sexually (some forms non-sexually) transmitted,” she said. “We know the cause. It is preventable. Both men and women ought to be immunised. It’s a cancer of the young; it devastates the family.”

Look at it this way. Here is a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. A pharmaceutical company markets a vaccine that claims to prevent it in women. The vaccine has to be administered to girls as young as 12 (anti-bodies are high in this age group). It is expensive. The government may/may not…More

The Hindu :

Coffee to suit every time and mood

Café Coffee Day (CCD) is brewing something exciting for bean lovers. Shadows is an assortment of coffee meant not just for different times in the day but even your moods. Inspired by time, this range of coffee attempts to connect with the body according to the time of the day.

The caffeine input in the new range depends on changing moods in accordance with time. For example, caffeine input is more in the morning coffees like Morning Glory (Double Shot Espresso, Rs. 55) and First Light (Caramel Sauce and Espresso with a whirl of cream Rs. 70). Similarly, there are afternoon coffees to get rid of fatigue and all-day refreshers. “We focus on lifestyle and trends and accordingly our 12 experts in Chikmagalur try to figure out different kind of coffees,” says Alok Gupta, director of CCD. With its new outlet Coffee Day Square (CDS) in Bangalore, CCD is targeting 1000 outlets by the end of 2009.

TAMANNA SHARMA

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